Life is Grimm
by hedgiebelle
Summary: There's a new girl in Portland. A very human girl. How does she know about Grimms and Wessen and what happens when she gets entwined in one of Nick's exciting murder cases? How long until her many secrets are found out by the always meddling, always intruding, yet very handsome police detective? Nick/OC. Some Monroe/Rosalee. Juliette/Renard.
1. Chapter 1

1.

First thing's first; not all Wessen hunters are Grimms. Seeing as how the number of active Grimms has gone down drastically in the past centuries, that shouldn't be very surprising news. A select few of us humans have been enlightened to the dangers lurking among us as normal people living normal lives. A select few of us humans have learned how to recognize those using deception to hide among innocents.

Every morning I awake from the same nightmares that used to be so chilling and frightening I would thrash into consciousness within minutes of falling asleep. Insomnia used to be a nightly problem until I finally the same recurring dreams simply turned my mind numb until morning when my alarm would call me back into the present. I open my eyes slowly each morning, taking in my surroundings and briefly making sure nothing is different.

Every morning I also find my only friend and companion laying outside of the bedroom door of my apartment, waiting for me to wake up. Lukas is my partner in justice, though most officers of the law would call it crime. Half-wolf and half-malamute, Lukas can smell a Blutbad from a mile away.

That was every morning before this morning. This morning I awoke from turbulence on a plane. The last Wessen I killed in Detroit had gotten messy, so I decided to skip town. The crime rate in Detroit is high already, though I don't need any unnecessary attention in my line of work. Lukas and my luggage are both in the cargo hold of the small Southwest Airlines plane headed to Portland, Oregon.

Portland seemed like a nice place to lie low for a while, crime there is in abundance like so many other places, but if I need to get out of any bad "situations" it's always easier to wipe off my hands in a place where crime-rates are higher.

Briefly, I turn and take in my the people surrounding me, I already judged everyone at the beginning of the flight when we all got to our seats and some made small-talk while waiting to take off. Nobody gave me any second-looks when I placed my carry-on bag containing my laptop and moving papers in the seat next to me so no one would sit down there. No one gave me any second looks at all, as per usual.

Average height and weight for a twenty-eight year old along with medium-length dark hair and easy-to-forget hazel eyes. Basically, I'm the one everyone forgets in a crowd. Probably the most interesting thing about me is that I was orphan, though no one knows that except Lukas, and it isn't like he understands a word I say when I rant to him.

The plane shudders a bit more in the air. Looking outside, all I see are clouds. I have no way of knowing if we are anywhere near the airport, but given the reputation of Oregon's rain, I would say we're pretty close. As if responding to my thoughts, a faint buzz and crackle of static sounds through the plane and a man's voice comes on the intercom.

"Hello everyone! This is your pilot speaking. As of right now we are roughly ten minutes from landing. Please fasten your seatbelts and expect a small bit of turbulence during the landing, nothing to worry about. Thank you for flying Southwest Airlines and welcome to Portland."

A light starts flashing behind the "Fasten Seatbelts" sign right above the door to the cockpit. I buckle up as the flight attendant walks past and goes to wake up a women sleeping in her seat. I reach beside me and take a piece of paper with a scrawled out address out of my bag. Though I decided to stay at a hotel tonight, I inquired about a nice-looking house for rent and made a deal with the landlord to look at it as soon as I get to town.

I feel the weight shift in the plane cabin and hear a small child start giggling somewhere behind me due to the descent. A smile forces its way onto my face; the child's innocence brightening up the cabin like a light bulb. If only more people could be that innocent as well.

I catch a cab outside of the airport after picking up my two bags from the luggage rack and Lukas from one of the any service desks. With him being a large dog, I had to pay an additional fee for his flight. Lukas seemed happy to see me, though he could probably smell the meat treats in my jacket pocket. The cab driver looks apprehensively at Lukas, but only grumbles mildly when I shove a few extra bills in his hands.

I tell the cabbie the location of my hotel and ask him to wait outside while I stick all my luggage in the room, I briefly brush through my hair in order to make a good first impression on the landlord of the two-bedroom house and to not look like some ragdoll who just got off a four hour flight in a third-rate passenger plane. Lukas whines a bit when I leave him in the hotel room, but he doesn't bark. Lukas only barks when there's a Wessen around; that is how I trained him.

The cabbie snatches the yellow post-it note with the address out of my hand when I hold it out to him and says nothing as we drive through Portland. I notice a few cute looking shops on one of the main streets and a bunch of nice, mid-sized luxury homes in the residential area. I smile once again, liking the city already.

This time, I don't tell the cab driver to wait for me, knowing he'd rather be somewhere else and making more money. It'd probably take a while for me to look in the apartment anyway. The house is two stories, but not large. I know it is two bedrooms with a medium-sized yard for Lukas to hang around in. I sigh as I remember my current employment status, knowing that I will need to get a job ASAP to be able to pay the rent if I do end up moving in.

My finger presses the cool surface of the bell to number 419 Hamilton Street right after I loft my jacket collar against the cool breeze blowing the back of my neck and not a second later I hear sound of footsteps leading to the door. The steps are light, not belonging to an overweight person, but just heavy enough for me to recognize a man's footstep.

The door swings open to reveal a man either in his late twenties or early thirties. He smiles widely when he sees me and looks me up and down, judging me in much of the same way I am judging him. He is attractive with styled brown hair and light brown eyes. Smile lines protrude from the corners of his eyes which give the impression of a kind personality. The man is around five foot nine and opens the door a bit wider.

"You're Kristine Anders, yes?" He says, never dropping his smile, though it doesn't seem forced. He holds out his hand for me to shake.

"Yes, I am but I prefer Krista. You must be Mr. Smith, the landlord?" I place my petite hand in his wide one, which he shakes enthusiastically.

"Mr. Smith is so boring and formal, call me Arthur. Come in, its cold out here." His smile widens even more as he steps back to allow me entrance, though his perfectly straight, white teeth only add to his attractiveness. I obey, and walk inside.

My first impression of the house is a good one. The entrance hall leads off to a living room, dining room, and kitchen. A staircase leads upstairs where more rooms are waiting. The house is politely furnished yet is still very bare with only a few items of furniture and nothing on the recently-painted white walls.

"This is a very nice home, Arthur." I say to him. He nods and sticks his left hand into his jean pocket. The other hand beckons around as he speaks.

"I recently flipped the house, doing most of the repairs myself. It wasn't in very good shape when I bought it, but I managed to get it looking good again. The kitchens over there with a full appliances and a door to the yard. I put a couch in the living room which is to the right and the dining room has a nice new chandelier." I nodded to his speech and looked where he pointed. Arthur led me around the downstairs and I was very pleased with what I saw.

"How many bathrooms does it have?" I turned to him once again.

"There's one half-bath down here, but both bedrooms upstairs have full baths connected to them. Wanna take a look?" He asks me. I nod and smile, tucking a stray piece of hair behind me ear.

Arthur takes me on a tour of the rest of the house and I am immensely pleased. "I think this'll be perfect. I can't believe I fell in love with the first house I saw!" I remark to Arthur. He smiles kindly.

"You can move in whenever you like and just give me the first payment by the end of next month. We've already discussed that, so you should be good."

I thank Arthur and tell him that I can move in by tomorrow. As I'm about to leave, he stops and hands me a piece of paper with his number on it. I thank him again and leave, promising to call if I need anything.

After finding my way back to my hotel, I fall back on the bed and Lukas jumps up beside me. Scratching him behind the ears, I flip on the TV and watch the news. With some police chief babbling in the background about helping the good people of Portland and solving another murder case, I turn to Lukas.

"We're off to a good start. I hope we'll both like it here."


	2. Chapter 2

2.

The very next day I move into the quaint house that Arthur had given me the keys to the day before. Lukas is pleased immediately and goes to run around in the yard right away. I take my two suitcases up to the master bedroom and place my small amount of clothes in the walk-in closet. Looking around, I realize that the first thing I need to do is get a job for some pocket money.

I have no idea how long I will be staying in Portland. The longest time I've ever been in one place was the ten yeas I was raised by my foster parents in Virginia. I've been bouncing around nearly every two years since the day I moved out and have lost contact with them. They understand though, and they can find me if they try.

I realize that the best chance I have for finding a job is to simply walk around town. I have enough money in my account to pay off house bills and get necessities like food, though a little pocket money would be nice. Not to mention it's probably suspicious if I stay unemployed like I am now. My arms slide comfortably into my jacket and I bring Lukas inside before I leave. I decide that I don't need to get a cab or anything since there are some shops I can look at pretty close by.

Once again, I sigh after realizing that I may need to get some small type of transportation. Perhaps a motorcycle or small car. My hand fumbles to lock the door behind me with my keys, the lock is already wet from the light fog that's formed around he town. I like the weather, though, it's a nice change. When I turn around, I see someone watching me from across the street. My guard immediately goes up but all the tall man does is wave and start crossing the street.

He wears a plaid shirt tucked into some jeans and a pair of work boots. His hair is short and brown and he has a small bit of facial hair around a wide smile. I smile back, somewhat reluctant, tired of introductions like this already.

"Hey! Did you just move in?" He asks me nicely. He had a strong voice, though he seemed really laid back.

"Yes, I did. My name's Krista Anders. Are you my neighbor?" I ask, holding my hand. Once again, it is shaken excitedly as he answers.

"Yeah, name's Monroe. I live right across the street. It's a nice house you got there, they just did a lot of work on it. Where're ya from?" He asks. I prop the collar of my jacket up before answering.

"I just moved up here from Texas, but before that it was Ohio. I move around a lot." I lied through my teeth, not wanting to really divulge anything to this strange man. There was something off about him.

"Oh that's cool! Traveler, eh? I hope you're okay with the temperature transition. It's pretty cool here." He smiles crookedly again. As if on cue, I shiver.

"Yeah, I noticed that." He nods and notices my discomfort.

"Well maybe we can have a drink sometime just to get to know each other; it's always good to know your neighbors." His phone in his pocket starts to ring and a look of mild annoyance crosses his face when he looks at the contact. "I got to take this, but I hope to see you around sometime!"

I nod and he walks off, putting the phone up to his ear. I strain to barely hear what he says.

"What is it, man? I was just having a nice conversation!" Monroe returns to his house and I start walking towards the street I went through earlier.

Along the street there are many cars parked outside of little shops with all sorts of things. There are clothing stores and little cafes. I notice an exotic tea and spice shop which I smile at. I love drinking tea, I'll have to go in there sometime and see what they have. Looking around some more I notice a "Help Wanted" sign in a shop called "Tails and Scales." Naturally it's a pet shop. I enter with a smile and go up to the back counter.

I pass one customer looking at cat food. He's Asian and in a police uniform, short but pleasant-looking. The woman behind the counter has long blond hair, manicured nails, and is wearing a nametag that reads "Mary: Manager." Perfect.

"Hello, Mary." The woman looks up at me through her glasses and smiles kindly. "My name is Krista and I couldn't help but notice your 'Help Wanted' sign. I'm looking for a job." I put on my best smile and waited for her to answer. After looking me up and down, she exits out of a page on her computer and opens her mouth.

"Yeah, I need some help around here. My last employee just quit and moved to Seattle. It's nice to meet you Krista…?"

"Anders."

Mary seems like a nice enough woman. She doesn't ask for any references, though she does ask where I'd worked previously. I tell some lie about how my Aunt owned a pet shop in Florida and I used to help out. I mention that I have a big dog back at my house I just moved in to and need some money to help pay rent. She's very interested in Lukas and says that it's important for employees to have animal experience.

"I don't need a resume or anything," she tells me. "I own and run this place so it's not all that official, though we do have support from the local veterinarian and we sometimes get strays. It's not a pet shop as much as an adoption agency. And any animals we do sell are tested for disease and disorders." I nod as she talks and invent intelligent answers to all of her questions.

"I'd just need you to come in on weekdays and help customers, maybe exercise the animals or take care of things when I'm busy. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, I am. I can start whenever you need me to as well." She smiles and shakes my hand, telling me to go print off a nametag in the back room. I pass by some cages with the same Asian man looking at cats. When I come out with a nametag on, he comes to talk to me.

"Hello, Krista." He squints to read my nametag. "Do you have any Royal Canin cat food? It's not where it normally is. Maybe in the back or something?" He looks over my shoulder into the room I just left. I smile and close the door, knowing there was no cat food in there.

"Actually sir, I just started work, but I can ask Mary if you like." I notice his cheeks redden a bit at the mention of Mary and I smile, he has a small crush. He nods and I go over to her.

"Well at least the customers can approach you." She chirps, "That's Sergeant Wu, he has a cat and is in here a lot. I'll go get the Royal Canin he was asking for. You can start work tomorrow officially so you can go now." I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and thank her before leaving.

As if moving on their own, my feet carry me over to the tea and spice shop. I enter and am immediately flooded with odd scents and the sight of a huge clutter. A bell rings above my head and a pretty brunette looks up, snapping a very thick and very old book closed. She smiles at me and watches, seeing if I will approach. Not wanting to have any more long conversations with anyone, I smile back and immediately look over at the shelves.

The sign wasn't kidding. The names of teas and spices I read are all very foreign sounding. I can't recognize one word written down. Some of the names I read closer to the back of the shop remind me of common Wessen spices and herbs, I frown, wondering if there's more to this shop than meets the eye.

Behind me, the bell to the door chimes as someone rushes in. I resist the urge to look for a few moments, my train of thought dissolving when I finally do turn around. My neighbor Monroe is speaking to the shop owner in hushed and distressed tones of voice. The woman shakes her head and looks over at me, Monroe looks then too and his eyes widen, I smile awkwardly at the two of them.

"Hey, Krista, what're you doing here?"

"Oh hey, Monroe. I was just looking for some new tea to drink…" I say, tucking another strand of hair behind me ear. It seems to be becoming a nervous habit.

"Oh sweet! I'm more of a coffee drinker myself, but this is a cool shop. This is Rosalee." He beckons to the shop owner and she smiles at me.

"Hey!" She says, sounding almost as awkward as I feel. "Nice to meet you. I didn't know Monroe knows you."

"She just moved into the house across the street." Monroe says. Rosalee's mouth forms an "oh" shape and she looks at me with a bit of sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Krista, was it?" She goes on before I can nod or confirm it. "I need to close up shop for a little bit, you're welcome to come back later though!" She says to me. I smile halfway and nod, just wanting to leave.

"It was nice to see you again, Monroe, and nice to meet you Rosalee." I said, practically running out onto the street. A car pulls up right in front of me when I leave the shop, the bell signaling my going. Two men, one African-american with a detective badge flashing under his jacket and the other a very handsome but slightly panicked man, leap out of the car and almost run into me.

"Sorry, miss." The latter one says. They both race into the spice shop and I raise my eyebrows.

"Late for tea?" I murmur under my breath. The sun peaks through the clouds, drastically warming the air. I look at the old watch on my left wrist and decide to go home to take Lukas on a walk.

Lukas is extremely happy for the first half of our walk, but we get to the mountain trails and he seems slightly agitated, taking the lead and pulling me in certain directions. I feel the knife inside my boot and look around, ready to lunge at anything that threatens us. I never let my guard down, but I do enjoy how pleasant of a walk this is. Finally, Lukas leads me right to the shore of a lake. He shuffles around on his paws and sniffs the water, the air, and the water again.

The lake is medium sized, maybe a mile in circumference, and to the left of where I face there's a house halfway on the land and part of it suspended over the water by thick poles. In front of me is a dock, when I try to step over there, Lukas growls. I look down at him, immediately aware of the knife in my boot again. But the thing that finally makes my pull out the knife and look around is when Lukas does the one thing he only does when there's Wessen nearby.

Lukas barks.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

I'm sure that to any random bystander or hiker that sees me in my current position- crouching with a long knife in front of me and holding onto a large, barking dog- I look like I had a bowl of crazy flakes this morning for breakfast. Aside from Lukas' barks, the air is calm and cool, with a small mist that glitters in the air when the sun manages to poke through the clouds.

With no wind, the lake is also calm and mirror-still. The grey sky reflects in the water, making everything look majestic and beautiful. It's certainly a change from Detroit. Slowly, still cautious, I place my knife back into the hidden holster in my boot and stand, tugging the leash connected to Lukas' neck.

The dog looks up at me, no longer barking. His eyes tell me to be careful, telling me that he knows Wessen are nearby despite the calm façade of the scene's exterior. A disturbance at the lake house to my left makes me crouch again, this time without the piece of steel in my hand.

A man and a woman walk out onto the small dock connected to the back of the house where there is one small rowboat tied to the edge. The woman is shortly behind in step and has her arms held out, as if pleading with him. I hear voices slightly raised, with no snippets of the conversation that I can make out.

Lukas is standing straight up, tail erect and sniffing the air towards the two. He sucks in air as if about to bark, but something is holding him back, something is making him unsure.

My attention returns to the two on the dock. The woman has stepped in front of the man and is gesturing wildly with her hands. The man runs his hands through his hair and turns in a small circle, finally reaching down and taking off his shirt.

Wait, what?

The woman becomes more earnest. She grabs his arms, trying to get him to stop doing whatever he's doing. My eyes flicker to the man's torso. While not badly developed, my attention is caught by the strange scars forming directly under his ribs. Lukas sees it to and I quickly grab his throat so he doesn't bark and bring attention to us. These two are definite Wessen, though I'm still unsure of what type.

Finally the man grabs the woman roughly by her shoulder and practically tosses her behind him. A grey discoloration of the man's skin appears above his jeans, leading down under them. Without a second thought, he jumps into the lake with a big splash, ripples suddenly all over the surface. He dove deep and after a minute of waiting all I see are a pair of jeans that float to the surface a few yards from the dock.

The Wessen man doesn't resurface for as long as I watch and the lake returns to mirror still. I've never encountered this type of Wessen before in my life and need to do some research. It's apparent they don't have the best tempers, or the best ways of controlling emotions. The woman is now on her belly, looking down into the water from the dock. She slaps the surface, more ripples forming, and looks very angry. From how stiff her face looks, I can tell she is in some sort of Wessen form. I just can't see it.

Lukas and I hike back down to town, my eyes are peeled for a library or internet café I can attempt some kind of research at. Briefly I wonder just how dangerous the new Wessen is and if I should deem it a target.

I hunt the Wessen that I deem dangerous to humans. Blutbad are always on my radar but the scared, mousy creatures like Eisbibers don't meet the quota. Just like humans, Wessen can be good or bad, however some of the creatures have instincts they just cannot fight and are therefore threats to humanity's welfare.

In town I decide to leave Lukas outside a small coffee shop and get a small afternoon snack. The place is nearly half full with people chatting at small tables. Two women sit at a table in the middle of the shop, chatting with smiles on their faces. I proceed to the counter and place my order where a teenage girl with mild acne problems starts taking care of it.

I hear police sirens approaching the shop and turn around, mildly interested in where they're going. However, they don't continue on their way when they get to the coffee shop. Screw mildly interested, I stand up straighter and look around the coffee shop, seeing if anyone's going to run.

The two women that were until very recently smiling and having a good time show the most reaction to the unexpected arrival of police officers. The brunette has a look of immense displeasure or annoyance on her face. She turns around in her seat to take a good look at the cops and anger flashes over her.

The blond woman sitting across from her only has a slight flash of panic through her eyes before she retreats into a mask of bitter confusion and willingness. I narrow my eyes, immediately knowing by her milli-second look of animosity that it's her they're here for.

The same two police detectives I had encountered at the spice shop earlier today walk into the shop. The African-American puts his hands up and opens his mouth.

"Everyone please remain seated and stay calm, we'll be out of here in a moment." As he speaks the other one takes a pair of handcuffs off his belt and locates the blond woman. With a newfound dignity in his walk he practically lifts her up and lays her down again on the table so he can place the cuffs on her wrists. Sergeant Wu comes through the door next, hushing people and trying to get everyone to remain calm.

"Adalind Shade you are under arrest…" He continues speaking but my mind wanders at the mention of her name. Shade is a very prominent Hexenbeast family in Europe. This woman immediately goes on my radar and I resolve that I need to do some digging to find out if I need to end her if she gets out of her custody. As a rule Hexenbeast are very dangerous, who knows what troubles she's caused to instigate her arrest.

Another confusing point; Hexenbeast are known to be clever. There's no way she would simply allow evidence to connect her to a crime without her meaning to. Unless of course there's more to this story that meets the eye.

The detective holding Adalind has her stand up again. The hate in his eyes is so prominent when he looks at her that I have no doubt that I'm missing something in this equation. He glances around and catches my eye. Our gazes lock for no more than a moment, but even I am surprised with the amount of animosity in his glare, even though it is not directed at me.

"Nick!" The brunette earlier sitting with Adalind steps up to him. First name basis? I raise my eyebrow. This is getting good. "What do you think you're doing?"

Nick's eyes soften when he turns to look at the woman. "I'm just doing my job, we can talk about it later."

Her expression is very angry when he blows her off like that, but she doesn't try anything funny as he walks out and escorts Miss Shade to the back of his undercover police car. I notice Lukas stand and look around, when he sees me, he barks once. My suspicions are then confirmed. Adalind Shade is a Hexenbeast.

"Miss?" I hear a voice behind me and turn. The girl who made my latte is holding a cup out to me with a barely shaking hand. I take it and hand over a bill. "Sorry for the trouble, that doesn't usually happen. Come again."

The brunette woman still hasn't left, though she drinks her coffee by herself now. I take a booth to her left, wanting to be able to spy a bit. Only a few minutes after I sit down to people watch, she puts on her teal jacket and throws out her cup on her way out. The woman gets into a van drives off. I sigh, knowing I didn't get any valuable information.

As I'm about to get up to leave, someone enters my peripheral vision to my left very close. Looking up, I see my landlord.

"Hey Krista! Mind if I sit?" He smiles and gestures to the spot across from me with a hand full of a steaming mug. I return the smile and shake my head.

"Go ahead. It's nice to see you."

As he sits, he looks around at all the people. Some were still fidgeting in their seats from the earlier excitement. His voice makes me turn my head and pay attention to him again.

"I heard there was a commotion in here. What happened?" Arthur rips open a few packages of sugar and pours them into his coffee.

"A woman got arrested. I don't know her." I say. Arthur's eyes widen.

"Did you catch a name or why?"

"Adalind Shade. I didn't hear why." I lean forward, hoping that he might know what's up with her.

"You don't say?" He leans forward too. "She was a very prestigious lawyer here! Then she disappeared for a few months. I think they said she went to Europe for vacation or something."

That doesn't surprise me. Hexenbeast are manipulative and very good with their words.

"Do you know why she was arrested?" I ask him.

"No, though she was in protective custody a few months ago. Some of her coworkers were murdered! They thought she was next." Arthur sips his coffee and grimaces, ripping open another package of sugar.

Arthur and I keep making small talk. He bats away any more of my attempts to talk about Adalind and instead pries into my life. Within an hour, I invent some story about needing to get away from my previous town in order to escape an awkward relationship. That's a typical excuse for moving I believe.

In truth I'd never had a relationship in my life. My foster parents just said I was passionate about my "work" consisting of hunting problematic Wessen. Arthur is very interested in everything I tell him and is good about speaking of himself too.

After a while, I'm the first to stand and say that I must get going Arthur seems slightly disappointed but says nothing other than "I hope we see each other again soon." I decide to humor him instead of turning him down completely and nod with a smile on my face.

Lukas is very excited when I exit the coffee shop and get his leash from the bench. We proceed to walk back to the house where I drop Lukas off and turn around immediately, needing some groceries and keeping an eye out for a place selling cars or motorcycles. It's nice to walk around, but I'm screwed if I need to get someplace in a hurry. I also need to keep some sort of sustenance in the house so I don't starve or make myself go broke from daily restaurant visits.

The day has grown significantly warmer since the drizzly morning. The sun actually shines through the clouds and although I still wear my jacket, I relish the newfound warmth the day brings.


End file.
